Choosing an outfit is something that cannot be taken lightly. For some people, it is considered an event. In today’s society, individuals are very conscious about how they present themselves. After all, it is said that our clothes are an extension of our true selves. But a question will be, “How true is that statement? Do you choose the clothes you don daily?”

Most people will jump the gun and boldly declare that this is their style. But this is not the case. The truth is a trend forecaster already beat you to it. You have never met before but the idea of the outfit you are wearing now was planted years ago.

Focus on the “next big thing”

Fashion brands are no longer interested in inspiring individuality or being different from the norm. All that they are interested in is in creating the “next big thing”. Such innovation will boost their popularity and hence their sales.

This was revealed by fashion buyer Mahir Can Işik in a TED talk. He revealed that thousands of brands are getting their ideas on outfits from a single agency. These ideas are conjured from research done on the populace. This single agency acts as a forecaster, predicting future trends in wear, shoes, and jewelry.

Playing the market

Information is power. And in today’s data-driven market, information is the measure of a successful business and one in the dredges. From research and data, information can provide analyses on trends and shifts in direction. A synonym for this is predictability. And there is nothing that a business craves more. However, the result of predictability is the death of individuality.

Fashion trend creators/agencies are approached by fashion brands to identify the “next big thing” or “must-have” outfits. What these trend agencies do first is to observe the market. Their officers crawl our social media pages. Each tweet and Instagram post is critically analyzed. They will follow you on the streets, siphoning every single ounce of information that they can get.

Later, the result of their “research” will be passed down to every popular fashion brand. The message will be simple: this is going to be big. Every brand will get on top of this, trying to outdo the competition in what’s relevant to the market and also in sales.

Predicting fashion trends is slowly killing the expression and excitement in style. There is no more individualism in our dressing. It has all ballooned to be a calculated environment, where all of us are wearing the same designs and styles.

In a nutshell

In his TED talk, Mahir Can Işik calls for a renaissance. If one is keen, you can predict the flow of fashion in a certain direction. But we can break from such a hold. He calls us out, asking us to shun away from these sterile suggestions and have an opinion on what we wear.